Hush Little Babies: The True Story Of A Mother Who Murdered Her Own Children (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Donald A. Davis (Author) "IT WAS ONLY early summer, but already the sun beat down with a fury on the flat anvil that is Texas..." (more)
Key Phrases: mystery car, slain children, Darlie Routier, Greg Davis, Eagle Drive (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're suspected of murdering someone close to you, and you don't have much evidence to support your version of events, your fate may depend critically on what you do after the murder. Darlie Routier, accused of murdering her two young sons, did almost everything wrong. She was inconsistent when talking to the 911 operator, she didn't try to stop her sons' bleeding, and a week after the deaths, she laughed and kidded around with Silly String at a birthday party held in honor of the older boy at his grave. Even the playing of her son's favorite song, "Gangsta's Paradise," was held against her. Hush Little Babies is true crime in the tradition of Texans who "live large" in a material sense, but author Don Davis doesn't allow the flamboyant aspects of the Routiers' lifestyle to distract him from presenting the disturbing loose ends in the prosecution's case. He is a conscientious writer: before he expresses an opinion, he allows readers to draw their own conclusions. In the end, it's a sad, puzzling tale.

Product Description

A killing so brutal it shocked the police and left the nation grieving, Hush Little Babies is the appalling true story of Darlie Routier, the neighborhood's most wonderful mom, who one night, coldly, calculatingly and brutally stabbed her two sons and watched them die in a pool of their own blood...

Darlie claimed an intruder has come through the window, fatally stabbed her sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, slashed her throat with same knife, then fled, while her husband and infant son slept upstairs. At first Darlie's heartfelt testimony evoked fear and sympathy in her safe Dallas community. Then police became suspicious after these troubling questions were raised:

Why, according to a police report, didn't Darlie make any attempt to help her dying sons?

Why, when she called 911, did she tell the dispatcher that her own fingerprints would be on the murderer's knife because she had picked it up?

Why did the trail of blood left behind contradict Darlie's testimony?

From the dark forces that drove her to kill her own flesh and blood, to the evidence that snared her in her own twisted web, here is a chilling account of homemaker, loving wife, mother of three, and cold-blooded killer--Darlie Routier.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312964854
• ISBN-13: 978-0312964856
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,542 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth your money..., August 28, 2006

By	Mere - See all my reviews

Reading the summary on the back of the book, one would think that the author was going to present the case AGAINST Darlie....instead, it seems as though the author got a little too friendly with Darlie's family.

The acknowledgements page in the beginning of the book is pretty much a good indicator of what is to come: the author thanks Darlie's family for letting him into their 'inner circle' and even calls Darlie's mother by her nickname. That pretty much put up the red light for me....and I was correct in my trepidation. Throughout the book the author continuously points out the mistakes the detectives make and how poor Darlie puts on a brave face. The author even comments on how the evil prison guards made poor, innocent Darlie clean her own jail cell. Hello! It's called prison! They don't hire Rent-A-Maid for the inmates!
And then during the trial the author makes sure to mention practically every word that the defense says and details all the 'points' that the defense 'scores' yet doesn't even take the time to write about what the prosecution says! It's like the author completely tuned out everything the prosecution said!

Oh! And the whole thing about the husband wanting to hire some guy to burglarize the house? Complete bull...The husband went on and on about how he'd give up everything to prove his wife's innocence yet how ironic is it that he decides to 'confess' this bit of information AFTER Darlie's case goes downhill.

This is not a good book to read if you want to know what REALLY happened in the Routier case. I would not reccomend this book. Of course, I'm all for an author presenting BOTH sides of the story...but this book is completely one-sided. In fact, I was so disgusted that I couldn't even finish it. A waste of money.

And as for Darlie's guilt....as disturbing a thought as it is, the evidence (even when presented in such a biased fashion by the author) punches so many holes in Darlie's story that a 'stranger' attack is inconceivable.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AUTHOR HAS NO VIABLE CONCLUSION; ERGO, THE BOOK, August 15, 2004

By	Schuyler V. Johnson (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

doesn't ring true. Too wishy-washy. In my opinion, she is guilty as hell. What no one ever mentions is, she could hear the baby two floors up, yet, a mysterious intruder enters and stabs/slashes her two boys to death and she doesn't hear a thing until it''s too late? HUH? Do you have any idea how loud two little boys would scream when they were being stabbed? Also, I think the police should take a closer look at hubby...he not only did nothing, apparently he slept through it all, then defends his wife...yet, he was "going to hire an intruder" to steal so he could get insurance money???? Ah, don't think so...he is, even now, remarkably devoid of emotion. He is either a complete anencephalic or complicit in the crime. Darlie deserves the death penalty and every bit of pain and discomfort she gets; as does her husband. One thing no one mentions is, MOTIVE. The motive, obviously, is GREED. They simply decided the two boys were too expensive to keep...so they get rid of them, permanently. What "intruder" enters a house, stabs two little boys to death,. TAKES NOTHING, leaves the mother ALIVE and runs away...it flies in the face of common sense and credibility...and again, WHAT IS THE MOTIVE? There has never been a murder committed without one.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Interesting----, February 27, 2000

By	Marilyn S. Shively (Farmington Hills, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

true crime books I have ever read. I was riveted and could not put the book down. This book is one of the only true crime books I have ever read where I came away wondering if the person accused, tried and sentenced to death really committed these horrific crimes. The cover basically says she did it but when you read the book you realize this is not an open and shut case. I hope Darlie gets another trial. There were so many things to question in this trial; the secret taping of the so called party at the burial site, the bungling of the investigation of some of the police investigators, their failure to take notes; it is interesting to compare this situation to the Ramsey's whree the Ramsey's didn't cooperate with the investigation and got "lawyered up" immediately. While I don't agree with that, look what happens when you try and cooperate. It is possible she did it but this trial didn't prove it to me and I don't know how she wound up getting the death penalty except for the fact that she took the witness stand and the jurors hated her and punished her. Let's hope justice prevails in this case one way or the other in another trial for at this point I would have to say I feel she may be innocent- only Darlie knows for sure